I would assume said mechanic has read the instructions and/or seen the video showing the installation, and that after a hand tighten to go no more that 3/4 turn after that, which is 7 newton meters on torque wrench scale. "Or else the axle can break", from their own FAQ page. Asking the ether, "axle can break, huh ?"
I would also assume the threads are greased, or they should be. (Not mentioned by them.) >From the FAQ. https://hexlox.com/en-us/pages/faq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GLqll3p7Ko 7 newton meters is not very tight, and I can easily see how they could be over torqued by anyone who either hasn't seen or read the instructions and/or simply forgets and applies too much torque. I've never used a Hexlox so I can't say how well that amount of torque keeps the wheel in place. By the breakage though I'd guess they've been overtightened, or it's just a bad product. On Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 6:53:19 AM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > Interesting, Armand! It’s the mechanics at the shop who do the work and > complain that the threads strip. At least two of them have had to call me > and tell me the threads were stripped, so this is not limited to only one > mechanic. And the master mechanic (who really does deserve the title) says > that my Riv forks require a good bite into the steel nut to keep things > locked down. Something about lots of vibration in the fork. > > I took the bike in because the wheel wasn’t spinning right and it was the > axle causing the issue. I would love the issue to be our fault, however, > because I love the design of the Hexlox systems and the key is so minimal. > > I hope yours continue to work for you and too bad we don’t live in the > same zip code because I would love to have you look at my setup and see > where/if I’ve gone wrong. Sigh. > L > > On Jun 13, 2026, at 1:11 AM, Armand Kizirian <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have two hexlox sets on two different bikes for years and have removed > the wheels dozens of times without issue. I do apply some light grease on > the axle threads, and reapply very rarely. Perhaps you are torquing them > down too much? > > > > On Friday, June 12, 2026 at 12:16:24 PM UTC-7 Jamie D. wrote: > >> I put a rare earth magnet over the allen bolt head on the skewer to >> create confusion and deterrence. Not seeing an allen head is strange and I >> imagine a thief doesn't want to stand around staring at a potential wheel >> they're considering stealing trying to figure out what's going on. The >> magnet is strong and removing it is just fiddly enough that unless you know >> what's going ahead of time it would take you longer than expected to remove >> it. Allen keys are also attracted to the magnet so unless you fully remove >> the magnet from the skewer it makes it more difficult to get an allen key >> engaged. >> >> On Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 8:46:45 PM UTC-4 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! >> wrote: >> >>> I have 4 that I got on sale and so they all have different keys… >>> >>> On Jun 10, 2026, at 8:40 PM, Al in SF <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 7:38:02 AM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! >>> wrote: >>> >>> I do have Pitlocks I bought from the marvelous Peter White that are just >>> sitting here. I bought them when the aluminum Hexlox failed, thinking I’d >>> have to give up those skewers. But I got those steel nuts and so these >>> Pitlocks have sat in their packages. >>> >>> Before I tear apart my bikes again and have to carry *4 different keys >>> around with the Pitlock system*, does anyone have a better, slicker >>> solution? >>> >>> >>> Wait, how many Pitlock sets do you have? If you only have one, you can >>> buy new sets that are keyed to your existing key. It's just a tiny little >>> nut that is different. >>> >>> Al in SF >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/j8WQEoUi51o/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0f526e1f-73c3-4758-a5c1-f87623b122e1n%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0f526e1f-73c3-4758-a5c1-f87623b122e1n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/j8WQEoUi51o/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8b2656c0-43c8-4e5a-b601-57a7befbc6den%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8b2656c0-43c8-4e5a-b601-57a7befbc6den%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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